From my heart – to yours…
February 15th, 2013
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Yesterday the Lord told me to speak out. And to not be silent anymore – to use my voice. To love people.
And I was like, "Me? Really? I don't ever shut up! I'm rarely silent! You sure you got the right person, God?"
But yesterday was Valentine's Day- so I was intrigued about the part on LOVE. How exactly was it that He wanted me to use my voice and speak out in a way that loves people? And then, it hit me.
Over the past few years, it has become clear to me — and to those in my inner circles of friends, family, and church — that God is the center of everything in my life. He really is.
I guess everyone assumes that I'm at least partly crazy about God or my faith to drop everything and go on an 11 month mission trip around the world; but I am always super careful on how I explain my faith to others publicly — like here, on my blog.
This is because I have a LOT of friends, co workers, and even family members who just don't get it…and I didn't want to offend them. I didn't want to offend YOU. Some of you are self-proclaimed atheists, some are Jewish, some are 'kinda Christian/ kinda new age/ kinda I-don't-like-to-label-myself-one-religion-or-another', some are humanistic-unitarianism-types, and some of you are Christians -and have a relationship with God- but you're still missing out on the fullness He has for you: the 'abundant life' they talk about in the Bible.
When He told me to speak out and love people… He meant speak out and love YOU. My community. My circle of influence. My listening ears. He wanted me to tell you about Him. And what He is to me. About how He has radically transformed my life and is continuing to take me on the adventure of a lifetime! On the World Race and off the World Race, I am on an epic journey and He is my tour guide. And ya know what? I was nervous to share with YOU about this. Why?
1) Because I don't want to offend you. But I realized that if you're offended, you should check and see where that offense comes from. I'm not trying to push my beliefs on you, I'm just trying to LOVE you. If I had a secret that I knew could HUGELY benefit your life, and I purposefully didn't tell you, that wouldn't be loving you very well -would it? So that's what I am trying to do. Just love you!
2) Because I didn't want you to think I'm crazy. However, I realized I'd be crazy NOT to tell you this stuff because I really DO love you and if I didn't tell you, I'd be holding out on you! Because I love you, I want the best for you, the very best. And I KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that God HAS the very best for you –and He is waiting to give it to you– the only condition is: He goes with you.
But trust me, with the wild-crazy-awesome levels of His very best that He has for you, you'll WANT Him with you. Why? Because sometimes, when things are SO great, they're kinda scary (like bungee jumping, learning a new language, or starting a whole new life) and its comforting to have someone who knows the ropes alongside you.
Or, if nothing else, it's just MORE FUN to have a travel companion! Someone to share the beautiful sunsets and funny moments with. God wants to BE that person for you. To GO WITH YOU. To guide you, to be your confidant, to whisper to you, "Hey, see that sunset? That's just for YOU. I made that for you. Isn't it lovely?", and someone to laugh with you –when life hands you the most ridiculous of circumstances– and then help you figure it out and come out stronger because of it.
He YEARNS to go with you! Heck, that's what they CALLED Jesus: "Immanuel." It means 'God with us'. He wants to BE with you. Always. But He's not gonna force His way in. Jesus tells us, (Revelation 3:20) "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." Dude! He wants to come in a have a meal with you! He wants to CHILL with you, as FRIENDS. The God of the Universe wants to be YOUR friend! And then He goes on to say, "and you will sit with me on my throne, just as I sat with my Father on his throne." You are INVITED to sit on God's throne with Him! Pretty epic. Yes, I would be crazy not to tell you this.
<Note: Maybe you noticed that I use the names: God, Jesus, The Father, Lord, and more recently 'Dad,' interchangeably. That's because I believe Jesus IS God. Yes, I believe in the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. But I believe they are all just parts of the ONE essence that IS God. So it doesn't matter which name you use, as long as you understand WHO He really is.
He's not the wind, moon, and stars– He IS the Creator, not the creation.
He's not the disconnected, undefined spiritual forcefield we refer to as 'The Universe.' He IS a deeply personal God who has "numbered the hairs on your head and knew you even before you were knit together in your mother's womb." (Psalm 139)
He is not a deist God who set everything in motion, and then decided to sit back and watch passively. He is an ACTIVE God who is ever-present in our lives and actually gives a rip about every detail of your life. Even the horribly monotonous details that you don't even care about. He is a detail-oriented God! And He is just as ACTIVE today as He was in the days of Abraham and Moses. Its just that WE have let OUR faith teeter and waver, like the Israelites, so we MISS OUT on a lot of what He is doing and what He wants to do THROUGH us.
He is not the 'inner power' that we all are born with, that if we hone and exercise consistently, will empower us to 'manifest things and circumstances into being'. Yes, there IS something to positive thinking, BUT, it's like one of the original Motivational Speakers, Zig Ziglar said, "Without God, it's all positive thinking. But WITH God, it's positive KNOWING." Zig is actually an old-school devout Christian! 🙂 So yeah, positive thinking can bring about a lot of good in your life — but wouldn't you rather positive KNOW? 😉
God and I actually got into this conversation about 'Personal Growth' yesterday. He asked me, "What IS this Personal Growth you guys get so excited about anyway? I am the one that makes you GROW in the first place." Hahaha. So true.
I now KNOW that when you grow in your faith, when you grow in your relationship with the Lord, when you grow in your awareness of who He is and who He says you are — THAT, my friends, is personal growth.
And that's BIG coming from me. I was the #1 proponent of personal growth! I co-founded a non-profit based on helping young people in their personal growth, I worked as a corporate trainer walking grown adults through personal growth that affects their businesses, and I've been reading, listening to, and attending 'Personal Growth/Self-Help/Success Strategy' books, podcasts, and conferences since I was in middle school! Trust me. If anyone preached personal growth, it was ME. But now I know the TRUTH: any growth we do on our own, apart from God, is half-ass. And I don't like doing things half-ass. So that's why I am telling you all this. Because I am hoping you don't either.
I am hoping you wanna GET IN THERE and GO FOR IT. That you want to 'Go Confidently in the direction of your dreams & live the life you've always imagined!' (Henry David Thoreau) and you want to 'Throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover!' (Mark Twain)
But don't settle for Twain's or Thoroeau's encouragements as motivation enough– team up with Twain's & Thoreau's CREATOR, take the hand of your MAKER, and let HIM show you the dreams HE has for you.
And the dreams He has for you are WAY better that the ones you have for yourself. Let's be honest, you and I would not have created the sunset quite as beautiful as He did, nor would we have created the Universe nearly as vast. He knows what He's doing. And He wants to do it with YOU, in YOUR life.
All you gotta do is open that door.
What would opening that door look like?
Tell Him you know you can't do it on your own — not to the level that He can — and that you want to do it HIS way.
Tell Him that you know HIS way is better.
Tell Him that you know you're not perfect (duh) and that you believe what He's done for you (Jesus dying on the cross — the whole reason and the only reason it's possible for us to have this 'Team-Up-With-God' Relationship in the first place. (If there's some confusion on that, I will clear it up in another post.)
And tell Him that you want IT.
You want Him.
With you.
For you.
Always.
And that's IT.
Donezo.
That's all it takes.
Enjoy the ride!
I love you.
And please- if you've made it this far- leave me some feedback (comments) below. Let me know what this stirs up in YOUR spirit. Especially if it's controversial! I want to know if this resonates in you & brings you to tears OR if this infuriates you & you are unsubscribing right now. I want to know! The gloves are off. We're getting real. It's the truth. Opinions welcome 😉
Christina 🙂
